1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a motorcycle including a vehicle body frame, and particularly to a fuel pump mounted on the vehicle body frame.
2. Description of the Background Art
It is well known for a motorcycle to include a vehicle body frame that includes a head pipe, a main frame, a rear frame and other similar frame components. It is also known to mount a fuel pump on the vehicle body frame. This arrangement of components is disclosed, for example, in FIG. 1 of JP-A-2004-284473. For reference, this figure is reproduced herein as FIG. 6 of the drawings in the present document.
In the previously known design illustrated in FIG. 6, a vehicle body frame 112 for a motorcycle 110 includes a main pipe 128 which extends rearwardly from a head pipe 111, a down pipe 132 which extends obliquely rearwardly and downwardly from the head pipe 111 and, thereafter, extends rearwardly, and a rear wheel suspension portion 133 which connects a rear end of the main pipe 128 and a rear end of the down pipe 132. Further, a fuel pump 127 is arranged inside the rear wheel suspension portion 133.
In this known design, it is possible to protect the fuel pump 127 from an impact which comes from a side of a vehicle body by means of the rear wheel suspension portions 133, because of the location of the fuel pump 127 inside the left and right rear wheel suspension portions 133.
Further, to sufficiently protect the fuel pump 127 from an impact which comes from the side of the vehicle body, for example, it is necessary to increase a strength of the rear wheel suspension portions 133 (hereinafter, also referred to as the pivot plates 133) by increasing a plate thickness of the rear wheel suspension portions 133 or the like. However, a drawback of this arrangement is that the overall weight of the vehicle body is increased when the strength of the rear suspension portions 133 is increased.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a motorcycle which can adequately protect a fuel pump from a side impact collision, without increasing the weight of the pivot plates which form the rear wheel suspension portions.